The advances in both IP and cellular networks serve as the catalyst for enormous amounts of information exchange. Users can utilize many different types of devices such as portable computers and cell phones to access and disseminate information from most any location. In particular, wireless and mobile capabilities are becoming principal forms of communication and data access. With the widespread deployment of wireless services mobile information workers play a key role in many corporate business operations. Employees that travel, such as sales representatives and field service technicians, for example, require access to mail, contacts information, calendar, etc., from anywhere.
Businesses realize that communications is a very important investment not only for promoting products and services, but also for maintaining employee productivity. More recent developments include enterprise-class solutions that provide security and policy-driven solutions for messaging and data exchange for computing and mobile devices. For example, collaboration systems allow employees to communicate in shared environments to discuss topics of interest and exchange information on related topics.
However, these conventional attempts at unified solutions are only partially successful. Corporate systems can typically include a blend of legacy backend and communications systems some of which are sufficiently compatible to facilitate a partial solution to existing needs. Niche vendors provide patchwork interfaces to make these systems work in some basic fashion. However, it is desirable to have a software component that provides a universal solution to the wide variety of systems and data that enterprises employ. Such a system could deliver a significant reduction in total-cost-ownership and a significantly improved user experience whether online, across a range of network connections, or offline.